A blog about fish words!

Pelagic zone

The pelagic zone is the region of a body of water (lake, river, or ocean) that is not associated with the bottom (see benthic zone) or shore (see littoral zone). This habitat zone is truly a three dimensional habitat space. Some fish that occupy the pelagic zone never encounter the bottom or shore throughout their lives. Because the pelagic zone is a nutrient poor environment, large fish have two basic strategies to get meals – either swim long distances in search of nutrient-rich prey (like many oceanic sharks and tunas) or drift with currents and eat nutrient-poor prey (like the Ocean Sunfish Mola mola). The pelagic zone is divided into zones based on light penetration from the surface:

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